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Waiting Time Is Wasting Time?

Friday, January 22, 2010 — chanmunwai

1. Queuing Up

We live in a fast pace society. Things need to get done and they need to be done quickly. If you are in a supermarket checking out your purchases, which queue would you join? The long queue or the shorter queue?

Some may say the shorter queue of course. But wait a minute. Before you join the queue, you probably want to check the quantity of items in the supermarket carts ahead of you. If the guy ahead of you has a cart with items piled to the top, you’ll be better off in the longer queue where most of them are carrying their items in their hands.

See what I mean? We find it frustrating to wait in a queue and would do our utmost to avoid being stuck in a slow line. Basically, to us, waiting time is wasting time.

2. Wait for the Lord

We carry over this attitude into our Christian life. When we pray to God to help us with a problem, we find it hard to wait for His answer. We fret and worry and wonder when will the solution come. However, the Bible gives us sound advice with regard to waiting for the Lord.

In Psalm 5:3, the psalmist says that he would lay his requests before the Lord and wait in expectation. In Psalm 27:14, the psalmist tells us to wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart. As we wait patiently, the psalmist tells us not to fret (Psalm 37:4) and believe that the Lord will answer even as you wait for Him (Psalm 38:15).

3. Waiting is hoping

What does it mean to wait for the Lord? What attitude must we have as we wait? The Hebrew word for wait is ‘qavah’. It means ‘to look for, hope, expect’. In short, waiting is hoping. When we wait for God to act in our situation, we are not just killing time. We are waiting expectantly. We are hoping in Him to act and solve our problem (Psalm 39:7). God will hear your cry for help as you wait patiently for Him (Psalm 40:1).

4. Waiting is renewing your strength

Sometimes our problem seemed unsolvable. We grow weary worrying about the dire scenarios that may materialize. However, the Bible reminds us that when our hope (wait) is in the Lord, we will find renewed strength. We will not grow weary nor should we give up (Isaiah 40:31).

Whatever is your situation, turn to the Lord for His help. Then replace your troubled thoughts with spiritual truths like “God will not leave me or forsake me”, “God will help me because He loves me”.

Your mind can only handle one thought at a time. If you let your troubled thoughts continue to linger in your mind, you are, in effect, not waiting on the Lord but waiting on your problem. Whatever your mind waits on will either drain you or strengthen you. If you let your mind wait on the problem, it will drain you. If you let your mind wait on the truths of God, it will strengthen you.

If you have to worry over your problem, why not wait on the Lord. In this instance, waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting on Him builds up your trust in Him (Isaiah 8:17). The walk of a Christian centers on trusting God and letting Him direct our path (Proverbs 3:5-6). Waiting for His answer and deliverance is part of the process of faith. Wait upon the Lord and you will not be disgraced nor be put to shame (Psalm 69:6).